Changes bring all of The News' brands into one digital home.

The Dallas Morning News launched a new website Thursday designed to be faster and more reader-friendly by bringing all of its news brands together in one digital home.

Grant Moise, publisher and president of The News, said the new site is a response to the newspaper's customers.

“They have told us over the past year that our digital products have not matched the quality of our journalism,” Moise said. “Today marks our first step in an ongoing commitment to build best in class digital products that will allow our journalism to shine in a digital world.”

The new DallasNews.com loads three times faster than the old site, and measured against other news sites, is the fastest in Texas, said Mike Orren, The News' chief product officer.

The News previously operated DallasNews, GuideLive, SportsDay, SportsDayHS and Al Día as separate sites. All are now part of the new site.

Research shows that when readers can easily cross over into other sections and find more that interests them, they are more likely to subscribe, Orren said.

“We’re hoping that readers will find what they want, stay with us longer and see the value in subscribing,” he said. “We’ve re-engineered everything based on what we learned over the past year from talking with and surveying our users and nonusers.”

The site's backend was purchased from The Washington Post, but its design and appearance were customized by an in-house team put together in January. Orren said the new site also reduces the company's website costs.

The site's launch will be complemented with an upcoming branding and marketing campaign that emphasizes the value of locally produced journalism, said Dan Sherlock, The News' head of digital and brand marketing.